Blending classic wedding traditions with trendy big day styles, Sami and Tyler’s wedding at The Renaissance is as dreamy as they come. With Wanderlust Weddings and Events at the helm, it’s no wonder the celebration sparkled with elegance. A classic black and white color palette with pops of emerald green and gold laid the foundation for the elaborate details of their design. The chosen pigments shined through all-white flower arrangements; gold candelabras, chairs, votives, and frames; as well as luxurious emerald table linens from Lendable Linens. Sami’s half of the wedding party even donned beautiful emerald green Morilee bridesmaids dresses in a rich velvet texture. A fortunate break in the rainy weather allowed for a first look outdoors where Tyler got to see Sami’s oh-so-stunning Lillian West wedding dress with a custom made cathedral veil, both from Blanc de Blanc Bridal. The two privately shared their vows before their personalized wedding ceremony, held on the hotel’s grand staircase. The evening also included a Pittsburgh classic of Prantl’s almond torte cake and ended with Pittsburgh DJ Company playing “Summer Nights” from “Grease”, which is a song that brought the two together many years ago. The whole day was a heartwarming and intimate affair. Lucky for us, Lex King Photography skillfully captured every moment!
About the Couple
Sami and Tyler met at Penn State in the fall of 2012. They were both involved in Greek Life and their organizations were paired together to perform “Grease” in the annual Greek Sing show. Tyler was Danny Zuko and Sami was a dancing pink lady. Tyler asked Sami for her number after one of the rehearsals and she accidentally gave him the wrong number, but he was confident enough to slide into her Facebook DMs and follow up. They started dating shortly thereafter.
In October 2021, Tyler and Sami were on vacation together in Orlando. While staying at the Grand Floridian, Tyler had planned a nice dinner on the water. Prior to the dinner, he wanted to propose, however, the weather had different plans. A storm came through right as they were supposed to be walking across the resort to dinner, so Tyler ran to the nearest gift shop and purchased 2 very overpriced Disney ponchos (which they will forever keep). They put on the ponchos and walked across the resort, down to the end of a dock on the water near the restaurant. He proposed under a covered gazebo on the dock. He hired a photographer to capture the moment and luckily, he did tell Sami to take off her poncho right before getting down on one knee, so the photos turned out very candid and cute.
About the Wedding
The overall style and theme for the wedding was classy and elegant. The goal was to respect certain wedding traditions but put a modern spin on things. A venue that had an amazing ceremony spot and big reception area was our main focus; the Renaissance provided all of that, plus a place to stay! I knew from the beginning I wanted only white flowers for everything – centerpieces, bouquets, etc. I knew I wanted the color scheme to be mostly black and white, but desired a pop of color, which is why I decided to add in gold and emerald accents. I had a vision of a large head table with lots of hurricane candles and candelabras with flowers everywhere. Our florist really made this come to life and it looked absolutely amazing. Her work on the staircase for our ceremony was also perfection. She thought of the design herself after I showed her pictures of the staircase, and I just trusted her expertise…she did not disappoint. Our gold accents were chiavari chairs, chargers, candlesticks, candelabras, votives, and picture frames. We were able to incorporate the emerald into the head table with velvet table runners and the velvet cake table linen. A photobooth and good DJ with a lively dance floor were very important to us. We provided our guests with glow sticks and the wedding party had sunglasses, which were passed around the dance floor all night. We featured our dog in some cookies on the cookie table and he was the inspiration for our signature drink. We love Prantl’s burnt almond torte but wanted to offer two types of cake, so we also picked chocolate with raspberry and both were so good!
Favorite Moment
Truly the whole day was amazing so it is hard to pick one moment! A moment between just Tyler and me would be our first look. It was raining off and on throughout the day, so we weren’t even sure if we were going to be able to take photos outside at all, but we got a short break in the rain so we could do our first look on the rooftop of our hotel. It was such a peaceful and loving moment between the two of us with no one else around. We decided to read our vows privately right before the first look, which was a perfect transition into actually getting to see one another. I loved doing a first look because it got our nerves out of the way and we were able to spend so much more time together throughout the day. A moment with everyone together was when “Summer Nights” from “Grease” was played towards the end of the night. It was such an unforgettable moment to have all of our favorite people in one place dancing and singing to the song that brought us together 10 years prior!
